Beth Dugas says the best word to describe her daughter Madison is “sassy.”
“Even people that haven’t met her that just know her story and follow her Facebook page or, you know, if you’ve ever met Madison in person, she’s very unforgettable,” Dugas said. “You won’t forget Madison.”
Madison’s spunky personality has been prevalent in her health battles, which began at an early age with two open heart surgeries in her first ten weeks and a heart transplant at seven months. Most recently, lung issues have resulted in a hospital stay that has now gone past seven weeks.
“They finally did a biopsy on her lungs and found out something that they weren’t expecting,” Dugas said. “She has, they call it pulmonary hemosiderosis, and there’s no cure per se. There are a couple potential treatment options like high-dose steroids and she’s gotten an IVIG treatment, but otherwise there’s really no cure. Just kind of have to maintain.”
Doctors have ruled out a lung transplant at this time, but more surgeries are likely on the horizon in order to address other issues.
“The pulmonary vein is another issue that she’s going to need to have resolved somehow, some way in the future because that pulmonary vein is just going to continue to narrow, and they can go in and open it up through a cast but she needs to have an open heart surgery to fix that,” Dugas said.
As the family navigates Madison’s battle, Dugas says they have felt the support of family, friends, and community, including a GoFundMe titled Miracles for Madison and a tote bag fundraiser.
“Both of our moms are very, very involved, and they help a lot with our son because he’s seven and we try to keep his routine as much as possible through all of it, and then just more friends than we could ever imagine,” Dugas said. “I said ‘I think that like all of Hardin County has been praying for Madison.’”
Updates on Madison’s journey, along with links to the GoFundMe and info on the tote bags, can be found on the Miracles for Madison Facebook page.
